A lecture by Prof. Aner Govrin (Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel), Psychoanalyst and Philosopher

Based on his new book, Interpretation: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2026) this lecture explores three distinct clinical conceptions of psychoanalytic interpretation through Freud’s work with Dora, Melanie Klein’s analysis of Richard, and Winnicott’s work with regressed patients.

The lecture follows a movement from interpretation as the uncovering of unconscious wishes, through the interpretation of primitive anxieties and phantasies, to Winnicott’s emphasis on holding, waiting, and silence. It asks how different analytic situations call for different forms of listening, intervention, and restraint.

The lecture will be followed by a discussion, with space for Lacanian and other contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives.